Story Saturdays

Summer!

     School has officially ended and everyone is running haywire trying to find something to do with their time. Or, you might be one of those who has too much planned for the summer. You'd love to switch places with the person who is utterly bored because they have plenty of time on their hands. Whoever you are, here are some book excerpts for you to enjoy for some of my WIP's that I'll be working on this summer, though I can't promise they'll come out this year, as I am currently in the process of finishing two books, writing four more, and beginning rough drafts for nine others.
     And more ideas are constantly popping in my head.
   
     First off, I'd like to reveal the final edit of my Atlas Cain cover. I hope to be editing the book by Christmas, but we'll see how my summer series is coming along by then.

Atlas Cain

             Suddenly, my thoughts are broken my the news streaming through.

“In other news, Jonathan Perez is under suspicion for the murder of seventeen-year-old Shelby Murdock. However, police are only keeping him overnight, due to the fact there is no solidarity evidence to incriminate Perez.”

I stare numbly at the screen as they show a picture of Shelby Murdock. She looks almost exactly like me.

I gasp as the realization hits. A realization I’d denied for as long as I could.

He was back for me.

“Police say to be on the watch for Perez. Police investigations are being held and they request the public report any suspicious findings immediately.”

I’m sucking in ragged breaths as I try not to pass out. Jonathan’s back. I never thought he’d be back. Never thought he’d find me. But, he is and he did.

Immediately, I’m off my bed and heading out to my car. Screw Atlas. I need that studio. And I need it now.

In minutes, I’m parking my car and pushing my way through the doors to the locker room.

I change.

I stretch.

Then I go looking for Atlas. I need a target. I need to punch and hit and do some major damage to someone's face.

He’s in his office on the phone, but hangs up when he sees me. I can tell he’s confused as to why I’m there, but I need something.

“I need you.”

And here are some books that will be being worked on over the summer and some excerpts from them:

The Perfect Now

"There are many things that test the validity of your beliefs. Likewise, there are a great many things that shape your beliefs, worldview, and structure or deplete your cognition. One of these things is the way you see happiness.

Happiness - a noun meaning ‘the state of being happy’, according to Google - greatly differs from Joy. Joy, also awarded the pleasure of being a noun, differs from Happiness in the way that it is the feeling of great pleasure and happiness, it isn’t the state of being happy. We have all felt Joy at least once in our lives, whether it was for a lengthy period of time, or simply a few moments.

I’ve had moments. I’ve grasped onto those moments with an iron grip, trying to make them last, afraid of letting them go. They never stay. They fade away like a leaf in the wind, reminding me of the void I’d felt, yet suppressed, during those few moments of Joy. I no longer want Joy. It leaves a craving inside of you that is unsated. I want Happiness. Miles of Happiness covering my life like cement on a paved road.

Everyone wants Happiness. “The pursuit of Happiness” is the emblem of the American Dream, everyone striving, fighting for the pursuit of happiness that the goal of finding happiness becomes muddled, tainted by the fight, until happiness is a dream and joy is a reality.

Little bits of Joy.

But I want an eternity of Happiness. A perfect now that I can enjoy, instead of simply a substantial future.

Because life is too short to be anything else."

And here's the first book in a dystopian trilogy I'm beginning which is the head-off of another dystopian trilogy my cousin and I are co-authoring.

Syndicate

"The government has symbols. The symbol represents who the United States are as a nation and what they stand for. Well, we have symbols too. Our symbols are close to the government's; to wear a foreign tat is considered treason. But, our symbols, well... they mean something entirely different.
Our symbols look like a modified version of theirs. Our meanings? Well, let's just say they're closer to rebellion than modification.
We do this to set ourselves apart. And, if we get caught, we can just say we're being 'creative'. Call it cowardice or whatever you want, but this is how we survive while we fight. We can't get caught. Not yet. All our memories, our security information, our lives are on the computerized ink which stains our wrist as a symbol.
There's only one person who does the symbols our way, so we know who's on our side. But someday, we won't know. The government will figure it out and our syndicate will be infiltrated. Someday, we won't know the good from the bad. And when that day comes...
Lord have mercy on our souls."